Australia Mandates Adoption of Overseas ADs

Australia has changed its aviation regulations to simplify the process of developing Airworthiness Directives (ADs). Under the new system, ADs issued by a foreign aviation authority will be adopted automatically in Australia, and operators will be required to comply with ADs issued by the authority of the state of design of the aircraft. The move simplifies the AD process in Australia by avoiding the need for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to reissue overseas ADs. According to CASA, “This [previous] practice does not add any safety value, is inefficient and causes delays with the promulgation of safety-critical issues.” CASA added that it can still exempt aircraft or products from an AD. In other CASA news, the authority said it has been holding discussions with the FAA to expand elements of the U.S.-Australia bilateral agreement to cover supplemental type certificates and repair and modification design approvals. “If the agreement can be expanded,” CASA explained, “it will mean the FAA will validate CASA supplemental type certificates,” as well as repair and modification approvals.